Borrowing a sword

Chapter 75 The Mysteries of Hidden Spirit Mountain
"This disciple greets the Sixth Elder and the Ninth Elder."

Inside the Hidden Spirit Courtyard, all the Taoist disciples bowed in unison.

Li Chunsong waved his sleeve, indicating that everyone didn't need to be so polite.

Nangong Yue crossed her arms over her chest, as if she were lifting up that bulging area.

She was naturally gentle and graceful. At this moment, she looked at Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang with a smile, her gaze sweeping over the two of them, her eyes filled with undisguised admiration.

"Junior Uncle's descent from the mountain this time has truly found two promising talents for our Daoist sect," she thought to herself.

The two elders personally led them to the entrance of Hidden Spirit Mountain.

The inner disciples in the courtyard were not too surprised.

After all these years on duty, this was the first time they had ever seen a charred black token.

Moreover, they had heard of the names Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang even before they entered the inner sect.

Seeing that the two elders had already left, they began to whisper among themselves.

"Junior Brother Chu and Junior Sister Han are qualified to go to the top of the mountain, so wouldn't they have a chance to see that sword?"

"If you can successfully reach the top of the mountain, that's natural."

"I don't know if the stone steps at the top of the mountain are easy to walk on. Anyway, I didn't even make it halfway up the mountain back then."

"It must be even more difficult, and the test will be much more challenging."

After a while, Junior Sister Chen, who had gone to call Elder Nangong over, suddenly spoke up.

"If you had the ability to reach the top of the mountain, would you really keep going up there just to see that sword?"

Given the unique nature of the rules of Cangling Mountain, everyone fell silent upon hearing this.

On the other side, Nangong Yue, as the person in charge of Cangling Mountain, was patiently explaining the rules of mountain climbing to the two of them.

Han Shuangjiang listened attentively, while Chu Huaixu had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

Cangling Mountain has a total of 9999 stone steps. Divide them by 3, and each area consists of 3333 steps.

The entire mountain is protected by a no-flying formation, so anyone below the ninth realm can only ascend by climbing the steps.

Because there are a large number of spiritual artifacts here, a spiritual pressure is naturally generated, which is similar to the pressure of a high-level cultivator.

Every Taoist disciple who goes up the mountain must bear this spiritual pressure.

Climbing a mountain is naturally not strenuous for cultivators, but the spiritual pressure is the test.

There are many magic arrays on the mountain. The higher you climb, the stronger the spiritual pressure you will have to endure.

The pressure it brings is not just physical.

For cultivators in the first realm, their divine consciousness within their sea of ​​consciousness has only just been born.

In this situation, it comes down to willpower, perseverance, and mental fortitude.

Overall, the feeling of discomfort is hard to describe; you have to go up the mountain to truly understand it.

Nangong Yue led the way, her voice was very pleasant, with a soft, melodious quality typical of women from Jiangnan.

"There is one more thing I need to tell you both."

"The stone steps on Cangling Mountain can only be climbed; one cannot turn back."

"There will be magical artifacts and spiritual weapons placed beside the stone steps. If you do not take them and choose to continue upwards, you will have no chance to regret it."

“The quality of the spiritual artifacts at the top of the mountain is definitely better than that at the middle of the mountain, and the quality at the middle of the mountain is definitely higher than that at the foot of the mountain.”

"However, within the same area, it doesn't mean that the higher you go, the higher the grade of the spiritual artifact will be."

"Besides, I think you two have some basic common sense, right? You need to carefully feel the spiritual weapon; the one that suits you best is the best," the weapon-refining master said.

Li Chunsong remained silent the entire time, occasionally rubbing his hands together.

At this moment, this gambling addict began to offer his personal opinion.

"Because there's no turning back, Cangling Mountain is not only a treasure mountain, but also a gambling mountain!" the charitable gambling king said excitedly.

Nangong Yue rolled her eyes at him slightly, feeling helpless in this regard.

Li Chunsong, however, became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, saying, "When you're climbing a mountain, you're not sure if there's anything more suitable for you on the mountain, but you also don't know if what you missed was the best!"

"It's exciting, isn't it?" His face started to turn red.

Chu Huaixu had already made up his mind, so he just listened casually.

Han Shuangjiang became more and more nervous as she listened, never expecting that the rules for climbing Cangling Mountain would be like this!

Looking at the two of them, Nangong Yue added, "Each person can only take one spiritual artifact when climbing the mountain. Because the Taoist sect emphasizes fate, and there are many relics of our predecessors on the mountain, it must be a two-way selection process."

"You cannot force a spiritual artifact to recognize you as its master. You are choosing the spiritual artifact, and the spiritual artifact is also choosing you."

"Only in this way can we bring the magical artifact down the mountain."

Upon hearing this, Li Chunsong, the gambling addict, immediately added, "So, sometimes if you miss out on something early on, the next magical artifact might not choose you either."

Chu Huaixu thought to himself, "What do you mean by 'you choose me, I choose you'? It's like something out of 'If You Are the One'."

He spoke up at the opportune moment, expressing his opinion: "So, actually, those newly crafted spiritual artifacts are easier to bring down the mountain?" Upon hearing this, Nangong Yue smiled and glanced at him.

The master craftsman nodded slightly, expressing his approval to Chu Huaixu: "It's very good that you thought of this so quickly."

She continued, "Normally, only the natal magic treasures of cultivators can give birth to true artifact spirits."

"For example, swords have sword spirits, and knives have knife spirits."

"Take the sword blanks I forged as an example. They are like babies that have just been born into the world. They do have a certain spirituality, but they do not have much intelligence and cannot be considered sword spirits."

"It can be said that they are still very ignorant, and can only rely on their nature and instinct to choose the people they think are suitable."

"Only after becoming someone else's natal magic weapon can this wisp of spirituality have the opportunity to grow stronger under the nurturing of the cultivator and become a weapon spirit."

“But the relics of those predecessors are different.” Nangong Yue changed the subject.

"Most of those relics were actually the natal magic weapons of these predecessors."

"After they pass away, the spirits of the artifacts still exist, but they will be much weaker."

“Under normal circumstances, their spirits will completely dissipate into the world within a few months to a few years.”

"But there are many formations on Mount Cangling that can ensure that these artifact spirits will not completely dissipate over time, but will only become weaker and weaker."

"However, once they re-establish their master and become someone else's natal magic weapon, the old artifact spirit will completely disappear, and a new artifact spirit will be born."

"It is death, but it is also rebirth," Nangong Yue said eloquently.

As a master craftswoman, she was passionate about the art of crafting weapons.

When talking about the spirit of the artifact, her appearance was almost identical to that of Li Chunsong when discussing gambling.

Han Shuangjiang has a strong sense of empathy. She had been listening quietly until now, but she said, "So, the spiritual artifacts left behind by these predecessors are actually carrying on their legacy?"

Nangong Yue nodded and replied, "That's partly true."

As it is a natal magic weapon, it is naturally impossible for it to go against the will and last wishes of its master.

Even if what awaits them then is death.

Li Chunsong immediately interjected: "Some predecessors may leave behind their will, but others may not, simply placing their spiritual artifacts on the mountain to wait for a destined person. Therefore, the criteria for choosing a person for a spiritual artifact vary widely and are not uniform, which makes it even more mysterious and unknown?"

“Baoshan is also a gambling mountain!” he exclaimed again, then began rubbing his hands together.

The touching atmosphere was ruined by this gambling addict.

As Chu Huaixu listened to these words, some rather disrespectful metaphors actually popped into his mind.

For example, newly crafted magical artifacts are like... well, they're very easy to fool.

Those relics, however, were the troublesome possessions of Old Deng.
He quickly dismissed these chaotic thoughts, engaged in some self-reproach, and felt ashamed to associate with Li Chunsong, that atmosphere-ruining gambling addict!

In fact, Chu Huaixu had read many posts from Taoist players on the forum, and they all expressed the opinion: "A gambling mentality is unacceptable!"

It was obvious that they had missed out on some spiritual artifacts on Hidden Spirit Mountain, and after descending the mountain, they were filled with regret.

The four walked and talked, and soon arrived at the stone steps leading up the mountain.

Nangong Yue pointed to the charred black wooden plaques in their hands and said, "Before you officially go up the mountain, wear them and hang them on your waist."

“The wooden plaque is engraved with a small array that connects to the teleportation array on the mountain. After selecting the spiritual artifact, crush it to teleport back to the foot of the mountain,” she said.

Upon hearing this, Chu Huaixu and Han Shuangjiang did as instructed and hung it on their waists.

Seeing that they were ready, the Ninth Elder smiled gently and asked, "Which of you two will go first? The two of you need to take an incense stick's time to go up the mountain separately."

The two young disciples exchanged a glance. Han Shuangjiang, the female lead in "Borrowing a Sword," was quite dashing. Just like in the third level of the secret realm, she volunteered again.

"I'll go first," she said.

“No, I’ll go first this time,” Chu Huaixu said.

Let me, your older brother, set an example for you!

“Go.” Li Chunsong pointed upwards: “You only need to step onto the stone steps to feel the spiritual pressure around you.”

“The limit of spiritual pressure you can withstand is the limit you can reach during this mountain climb,” he said.

At that time, he was ordered by the sect leader to take the wooden plaque of Cangling Mountain to Chu Huaixu.

But how far he can go on these 9999 stone steps depends on himself.

Chu Huaixu nodded, cupped his hands in greeting to the crowd, and strode forward.

A gust of wind blew by, lifting the hem of his black robe. His eyes narrowed, and he took a step upward.

Chu Huaixu stood on the first stone step, carefully feeling its weight, and then...
—I don't feel anything!

He continued climbing the steps, faster and faster, but still felt nothing.

The surrounding spiritual pressure was as if it didn't exist to him, having no effect whatsoever.

(P.S.: Second update, please vote with monthly tickets!)

There will be another update today, still 10,000 words. I'm taking some medicine and going to sleep now; I have a slight fever.
(End of this chapter)